Many try to portray Jesus as mystical
figure who cannot be understood. Religion calls Him sacred, philosophers
portrays Him to be wise, sinners called Him a friend and scholars doubted His
divinity. Who is Jesus that changed the world and what can we learn from Him?
Over the centuries, many have tried to
explain Jesus and the secrets to His success. There are lessons we can learn from
the life of Jesus. If we give heed to these habits, we too can become
successful in the game of life.
One
of the major habits in Jesus’ life was prayer.
He prayed all sorts of prayers. He prayed in all sorts of places. He prayed
different length of prayer. Sometime He prayed all nights. Other times he said
a quick prayer in the passing. Prayer is a standout activity in the life of
Jesus. He not only prayed in solitary but He prayed in public as well. His
approach toward prayer was to communicate with God. He didn’t just pray in times of a crisis but also took time to acknowledge
and converse with His heavenly Father. His habit was to set aside times for
prayer. Praying early morning and late at night were hallmarks of Jesus’ life.
As
Christians, we too must pray. Prayer has
been reduced to boring, endless chants and many find it hard to participate in.
In reality, prayer is a vibrant communication with our Father in heaven. Every
revival is birthed in prayer. In China, when people pray, they pray until they
sweat! Only one person maybe praying but after each sentence the whole church
will say “Aamun.” They’re all active
participants in prayer. The excitement,
zeal and intensity of prayer are contagious. Prayer isn’t certainly a
contest of loud voices but when we express our thoughts in prayers out loud we
also influence those who are around us.
An unpopular habit of Jesus was fasting. Fasting is not something we do to gain God’s favor, but it has a two-fold impact. Fasting gets God’s attention like nothing else. Fasting also is a good way to exercise self-control and keeping our fleshly desires on check. Fasting requires high degree of discipline. In today’s culture most of us are not willing to pay the price for a power-filled life. If we want to be “Super-Christians” we have to start keeping our bodies under control through fasting. Fasting is not a very popular message but it’s a very effective tool to live a victorious life. Paul said, “I buffet my body and keep it under subjection.” Many Christians misinterpret it as going to the buffet and eat all they can! A little bit of fasting on a regular basis will do us all good in many different levels. Most people think that fasting is just giving up food for a meal or a few days, but it is really giving up anything so you can spend more time with God. Try fasting; it will super-charge your spiritual life.
Another noticeable habit of Jesus was
His public life. He spent all night and
early mornings talking to His Father but during the day, He was all about
people. He spent time with kids. He went to dinner, wedding and social
gatherings. He was with the sinners, the down and outs and the rich. Jesus hung around with all types of people. We
too should do the same without compromising our character. He was a people
person. If we want to please God with our lives, we must love God and love
people. Part of the secrets to your success is how good you can relate to other
people. When we take genuine interest in
people, we too can win them over to the Kingdom of God. Fellowship and
hospitality are lost words in Christian communities today but they’re the building
blocks of our Christian life. Let’s spend time with God and with each other!
Religion has taught us that Jesus was the
Son of God that’s why He could live a sinless life and do the impossible
things. But the Bible teaches us that Jesus was both God and man on earth. That
means we too can live and do the things He did if we take time to deny our
flesh and build healthy spiritual habits. I challenge you to do at least one of
the three things we talked about
today and I can assure you that your spiritual life will launch into the
orbits.
Pray.
Fast. Take genuine interest in people!
“Jesus went up on a mountain to pray,
and he prayed to God all night” (Luke 6:12 NLT).
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